Odd Jobs
by takaondo
Summary: Out of all the jobs that he could have chosen, Ichigo chose to take care of Kondou-san's rabbit on Mashiba Block 2. He soon wondered why he chose to take care of a rabbit, when there were much easier jobs that he could have done instead. Subtle IchiRuki


**Disclaimer:** BLEACH belongs to Kubo Tite and Shuueisha Publishings.

**Author's Note:** A short drabble inspired by the recent chapter.

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_"Sometimes, when one person is missing, the whole world seems depopulated." ~Lamartine_

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_**Odd Jobs

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Kurosaki Ichigo's brown eyes glanced down the list in his hand.

Clean rabbit cage. Check. Refill rabbit's water bottle. Check. Replace the hay for the rabbit. Check. Feed rabbit. Check. Now it was all a waiting game until the owner, Kondou-san, came home. He glanced at the clock. There were still two more hours until he was able to leave.

"Out of all the jobs to take, why the hell did I choose this one?" He asked himself. He frowned as he crumpled the list and threw it into the wastebasket. "If I had taken one of the cleaning jobs, I would have been done by now."

With nothing left to do, Ichigo pulled up a nearby chair, sitting backwards on it so he could rest his arms on the backrest. He looked around the small apartment with a bored expression. It had all the normal things one would expect; a kitchen, a bathroom, a living room, and one bedroom. Other than that, it was relatively empty. Besides the rabbit cage that sat in the corner of the living room, there wasn't anything more than what was necessary to live with.

'_Scritch scratch'_

He snapped out of his thoughts at the noise. He turned towards the source; it was coming from the rabbit cage.

The little white rabbit he had been taking care of was standing on its hind legs, scratching at bars of its cage. Curious at its behavior, Ichigo got up and walked over to its cage. He squatted down, scowling lightly at it. The rabbit went still at his arrival, and stared back at him expectantly.

"Are you hungry again?" Ichigo asked in slight irritation. "I just fed you an hour ago."

The rabbit wiggled its nose. Of course it was hungry. He sighed.

"I guess it can't be helped."

A few moments later, the rabbit was nosily munching on its new meal. Ichigo sat cross-legged on the floor close by, watching it with a blank expression on his face.

"Oi, rabbit." Ichigo called out to it. "You're going to get fat if you keep this up."

The rabbit turned to him briefly, wiggled its nose again, and turned back to its food.

"Kondou-san never did mention a name for you. I think I'll name you so I don't have to call you 'rabbit' all the time." Ichigo said as he looked up in thought. "What's a good name for a rabbit?"

He scowled lightly as the answer came to him instantly.

"Rukia would have definitely -"

He stopped mid-sentence, and his expression quickly lit up with surprise. As though the mentioning of her name was taboo, his mouth wore into a frown and his expression fell dour. But it wasn't her name that had affected him; it was the realization that had come with it.

"Even when you're gone, I'm still drawn to the things that remind me of you…" He muttered as he looked away.

Ichigo quickly realized that he was sulking, and scowled at himself for being so sentimental. With a slight huff, he turned back to the rabbit.

"From now on, your name is Chappy."

The rabbit turned to him and cocked its head.

"Ah, I know you hate it." Ichigo continued crossly. "I hate it too."

He looked away, and his expression fell impassive.

"But do you know what I hate more? I hate the fact that I can't give you any other name because…"

He couldn't hold back the nostalgic smile that tugged at the corners of his mouth.

"Rukia would have definitely called you Chappy if she were here."

He slowly turned to the open window at the side and stared at it wistfully. It reminded him of the time that Rukia had returned after the events of Soul Society. Like an illusion, the event replayed in front of him. He watched as she skillfully climbed into the window from the outside. She stood proudly on the window sill, smirking at him with the expression that he was so familiar with.

"_Rukia…"_

"_Long time no see, eh, Ichigo."_

But as he got up, the memory disappeared into the wind.

And he stood there with his back turned to hide his expression…

Staring silently at the empty window.

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'But she isn't here.'

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**Fin**


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